Quick Shots: NFL bully culture needs to stop

Saturday

Nov 9, 2013 at 3:36 PMNov 9, 2013 at 3:38 PM

By Matt TrowbridgeRockford Register Star

Richie Incognito is a bully and deserves to be kicked out of the NFL. A suspension won’t work. In college, Nebraska suspended him a couple of times before kicking him off the team. He then went to Oregon and lasted one week before being let go. The Colts and Patriots put Incognito on their “do not draft” list because of his personal issues, but the Rams drafted him for the same reason. Then-coach Mike Martz told the New York Times in 2005 that he loved Incognito’s “nastiness” and said “that’s the way the game is played in the NFL.”

“Nasty” isn’t “tough.” Bullies aren’t stand-up guys. They pick on the weak, on those who won’t fight back. And being nasty to teammates is subversive, ripping teammates apart, not building them up. When the Bears hazed Todd Sauerbrun, shaving his head and repeatedly taunting him as a rookie in 1995, it led to the worst punting seasons of his career.

I also agree that you should stand up to bullies. But if it didn’t help Sauerbrun, why would it help Jonathan Martin? Things like this don’t happen without coaches knowing about it.

McCown or Cutler?

Ten years ago, the Vikings became the only team in the Wild Card era to start 6-0 and miss the playoffs. Like the Bears today, they brought back their star quarterback even though backup Gus Frerotte had a 126.4 passer rating in three straight wins.

The Vikings won their first game with Daunte Culpepper back, but finished 4-7, including losses to the four worst teams in the league. The final loss came on a 28-yard pass on the final play of the season — by Josh McCown. That dropped Arizona to the No. 3 draft pick (Larry Fitzgerald instead of Peyton Manning) and put Green Bay in the playoffs instead of Minnesota.

McCown is now getting passed over for Cutler, who is obviously the better long-term answer. But I’d have stayed with McCown on Sunday. Why change what’s working? Especially when it lets you compare and contrast and decide if it’s worth $100 million to re-sign Cutler this winter?

Wrong approach

So the Cubs now have a new manager (Rick Renteria) who is supposed to be nicer when Starlin Castro messes up. Yeah, that’s right, more coddling is what the Cubs need.